Kaleidoscope
by littlebluewhalen
Summary: Maya lets it all out. Set when Shawn proposes to Katy.


**A/N: I made this story back in 2016, little less than a year ago. I was looking through my fic folder on my computer and just decided to upload some things. I;m not really into GMW since its cancellation, and I haven't finished season 3, but I remember that I was really frustrated at how they treated Maya's overall character and pushed her into that roll of the delinquent friend, when she could be so much more. I think this small piece was just my feelings on that. Enjoy!**

 **P.S.- I don't feel like going back and indenting every paragraph, so, oh well.**

Maya, hair drenched in purple paint, in the arms of her best friend, was crying. Complete and total sobbing. She squeezed Riley's arms and broke free of her grasp, numbly rushing over to Shawn. Tears were streaking her face and he smiled gently at her over her mother's head. She stopped, hesitant for a second, then hugged them both.

Smiles and gazes were focused on the three, happiness clogging the room, a tangible force. Even the guys had come out from behind the wall to make their presence known in the living room. Everything was hazy for Maya; the shock of Shawn's exclamation had consumed her whole. Her body was on autopilot. She was being jostled; Shawn and Katy had decided to stand up. Katy hugged her daughter, crying. Maya accepted it.

"Sweetie, do you accept his offer? This isn't just about me. It's about you, too. It's always been about us." Katy said quietly. The words echoed in Maya's ears. The room was silent, waiting with baited breath.

"Oh, of course she does! This is what she's always wanted! Now… now she has a family! Maya, you don't have to be me anymore! You have what I have!" Riley said, cheeriness exuding her person. Maya vaguely registered what was happening around her; everything was blurred. She looked at Shawn, and her brain snapped into action.

"Yes." She said shakily. She looked up at her mom. "Yes, mom. Yes. Marry him. Please." She responded in a delayed manner. She looked at Shawn, and broke free of her mom. Her footsteps sluggishly dragged on the carpet floor, her brain whirring to keep up with the action around her. "I am afraid," Maya started, unaware of what she was saying, "I'm not going to lie. I am scared. I don't want you to leave, like… dad… like Kermit did. But I… I don't think you will. I think… we're the same, and… together all three of us," she paused, looking back at her mother, who smiled warmly, "can be a mosaic."

"Ahh," Cory hummed, "A mosaic… a complete artwork made out of broken pieces of other things. A beautiful art medium." He explained.

"Yeah, thanks, that's why I said it." Maya snapped at him sarcastically. He cringed back.

"Come on, you two, do you wanna grab dinner or something? To celebrate?" Shawn asked. He was beaming down at the two loves of his life.

"I would love to. How about you, baby girl?" Katy responded. Maya shook her head.

"You guys go. You're the two getting married. Plus, I'm covered in purple paint." She teased.

"Maya, he isn't just marrying me… We're a package deal. I always wanted to meet someone who would accept and treat my daughter like their own. I finally found that…" Katy trailed off. She moved to Shawn's side and hugged him.

"I… Mom, you're right. It has always been me and you. And… I'm glad we have someone to share that with. But seriously, I need to wash up here anyway. You two go on. Seriously." Maya smiled. Tears formed in her eyes again. Katy nodded and kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"I won't keep her too long, Ms. Maya." Shawn teased. Maya grinned at him and punched him in the arm that Katy wasn't holding. And with that, the two took their leave.

Everyone was quiet for a bit, until Riley spoke up.

"Maya… I'm so happy. This is what you always wanted, right? What I have? You have it…" Riley said, her voice fluttering through the air. Those words struck a chord with Maya, and irritated her for a reason she wasn't sure of. She shook it off; she was still angry with Riley. Getting into a paint fight didn't evaporate her feelings.

"No… this is… mine. It's not Cory and Topanga, it's not a classic nuclear family, it's not dinners around the table… but it's mine." Maya breathed. She stared at the ground, a grin creeping onto her face. "Come on Riley, let's get cleaned up." She said offhandedly, starting to walk towards Riley's room. Riley followed. The guys went back into her room as well.

"Core, for some reason I have a feeling that that conversation isn't over…" Topanga said uneasily. Cory nodded.

"Well, wanna go listen to Mount Vesuvius explode?" Cory said cheekily and grinned. Topanga rolled her eyes, but they both crept to Riley's door to listen.

Farkle hugged Maya, squeezing her. "Maya, I'm so happy for you. This is yours. It's real." He whispered. Everyone heard. She buried her head in his neck and squeezed back.

"Never thought it would happen." Maya said dreamily. She silently laughed, and detached herself from one of her longest and best friends.

"I'm so glad that paint is dry." Farkle half-joked. Maya grinned.

"Man, now this is just unfair! Maya's getting everything she wanted, and I still don't get to be Maya." Riley pouted. Maya sucked in a breath. She knew the girl meant to come off as teasing, but she didn't think that she was.

"Trust me, Riles… you don't want anything I have. You never should have in the first place." Maya said, a warning laced through her words. The air suddenly became thick with an unspoken tension. Farkle looked back and forth between the two girls, and scurried to sit onto the bay window next to Lucas and Zay.

"You ready to see a volcano explode?" He murmured to the other two. They stared.

"Why not? I'm so… jealous, Maya. You were always the adventurous one, the spontaneous one… the one who didn't care what others thought of you, the cool one. Meanwhile, I was… me! The oddball! The… weirdo! Why can you be jealous of me and I'm not allowed to feel the same?" Riley asked earnestly. Maya sighed, closed her eyes, then opened them and stared at Riley.

"Because, the girl you were jealous of was a girl created out of insecurity and anger. I just… went over this with you," she remarked, gesturing to the paint covering their bodies. "I hated myself. I thought that I made my father leave my mother and I. I was never happy, I was always angry. I acted like I did because I didn't… I didn't know what to do. No one taught me about right from wrong. I love my mom, but… she wasn't around a lot. And now I realize that it's just because she was trying to support me, because she loves me, but I didn't get that for a long time. I didn't understand that until your dad made that happen." She said slowly. They all knew what incident she was referring to. "The Maya you revered was a fake. And I don't want to go back to being that. I don't want to go back to being a delinquent. I... like Shawn said. He wanted to be Cory until he realized that he didn't want what Cory and Topanga had. I don't… I no longer want what you have. I want my life. Even if Shawn hadn't proposed, I would still want to be me, and I'd still want my mom, and our crappy apartment." She paused, trying to collect her thoughts. Everyone stayed deathly still.

"And yes… this hopeful part of me was spurred by you, and your family. You guys stopped me from falling into a very bad place. You gave me hope… for a while I was inspired by your family, but it turned into obsession. I wanted to be you, because the hopeless part of me thought I'd never get it. And that just… that sprouted thoughts of, 'Well, I can't be Riley, so what's the point?' 'You'll never have what she'll have in life, so why should you try?'" Maya drew a shaky breath. "But, starting high school, getting that A in Spanish… it… really, really made me see that I could be great on my own. I could be my own brand of good. So, I… I started trying. I see a future for myself now; I can get good grades and I can excel. That's something I never saw before, because I was always so angry, and I was always comparing myself to you. So… So I want to do good things for myself now. Not for you. I'm Maya. And I'm changing. I'm growing Riles, but you won't let that happen. You're too concerned for you having too much of an influence on me. Don't. I know who I am. I know what I'm about. But you need to let me grow and give me space to grow into what I want to be. And that's not you." Maya was conscious that her voice was rising, but didn't stop it. All of the frustration and confusion that she was feeling flowed into her words, emotion weighing on each syllable.

"I've been thinking about this a lot lately. In the past, when I stopped myself from doing something bad, I would ask myself why, and the answer was always you. But lately… the answer was me. And my goals.

The Maya you wanted to be like was a lie. She was a shell, a shield. This is the 'True Maya'", she finished, making air quotes.

"I just… Maya… I don't want you to change," Riley started, tearing up, "I don't want anything to change. I want everything to stay the same. I want to be friends forever." She whispered, looking up at Maya and glancing around at the guys, then staring back and the floor.

"Riley, just because we grow as people doesn't mean we drift apart. We can get closer without trying to be each other." Maya said calmly, stepping forward and taking Riley's hand and giving it a squeeze. "You influenced me to be a better person and want more for myself, and be hopeful enough to believe that's possible. I influenced you to loosen up and be more tolerant." Maya smiled. "That's great. We're still best friends. But can we best friends that love ourselves just as much as we love each other?" She asked. Riley nodded stiffly, looking at the ground.

"I know we both struggle with even liking who we are," Maya said, "but we need to take that journey, together. High school is going to be a rollercoaster, but as long as I'm with all of you, I'm betting it'll be a fun one overall." Maya concluded her little speech. Riley looked up at her.

"Ring Power?" she asked timidly. Maya grinned.

"Always."

Riley smiled at her best friend. "I'm sorry, Maya. That I've been suffocating you. I didn't mean to, I just care for you so much, and… well… I needed you too. I needed you to be the strong person you've always been, because I'm not. I think… that was selfish of me. I guess… changing won't be too bad. For both of us." The girl grinned at her best friend.

Maya walked to the bay window and sat down next to Farkle, pulling Riley down with her. "I think changing is going to be fun." Maya said excitedly. Zay shrugged.

"I think there will be even more drama. I mean, we already got this Lucas drama going on, and that started in middle school!" He said. They all laughed.

"But we'll always be friends through it. That won't change. Through the highs and lows, the relationships, all the lessons we have yet to learn, about the world and ourselves… that won't change." Farkle said honestly, smiling at his friends. Riley nodded.

"And we'll always be there for each other. For everything and anything." Lucas added on.

"Aww, group hug!" Riley yelled, jumping up. They all stood, rolling their eyes.

"And, there's smiley again." Zay teased. They all crowded in a hug, relishing the moment, until they heard a loud, anguished shriek of,

"Oh God, Topanga! It's happening! Riley is growing up! She's resolving her conflicts without us! Our baby girl is leaving the nest, Topanga, this is not a drill!" They all rolled their eyes.

Maya broke free of the hug, fluttered over to Riley's drawers, and stole some clothes. She danced over to the door and opened it, revealing and sobbing Cory curled up on the floor.

"Hey, Teach. Get off the floor, will ya?" She asked, looking down at the man-child. He hissed at her in response. "Right. Anyway, I call first shower. Peaches, take care of your father!" She called before jumping over Cory and disappearing into the bathroom.

Riley shook her head and sighed. "Oh, Dad. What is wrong with you?" She asked, walking over to him. "Come on. Dad, get up!" Cory, immobilized on the floor, refused to notice his daughter tugging on his arm. "Well, you've forced my hand." His daughter said menacingly. He shot up like a bullet.

"No need to get the she-beast on me, geez! I'm going!" He yelled, shushing his daughter. She just pointed down the hall. He pouted, and slowly walked away. Only to turn around, rush back to Riley, and crush her in a hug. "Oh Riley! My little teenager! You're going to be an adult so soon… Oh no!" He said. She kicked out of his arms and ran down the hallway.

"MOM! Dad's harassing me! Make him stop!" She yelled, her voice echoing against the walls. Cory swiftly made after her, leaving the boys alone in Riley's room once again.

"So… it seems like things are back to normal." Zay said, shrugging.

"Nah, I think they're… better." Farkle said. "In all of my years of knowing Riley and Maya, Maya has never really expressed her true feelings like that. My little girl is growing," he said, mocking Cory's tone. "And Riley, she'll learn soon. I think she's on the verge of a huge lesson… learning acceptance. I think, out of all of us, she'll have the least problems with insecurities. She's growing through a rough patch, but she's a fundamentally optimistic person. She'll get herself sorted out soon enough."

"So... are you sticking with the choice you made?" Zay asked Lucas cautiously.

"I… honestly don't feel like I should be making one," he said seriously. "I mean, if what just happened is any indication, we're all still growing. Maya and Riley are learning to be independent of each other… when that happens, maybe I'll be able to choose. But, honestly, we don't know who we are yet. We all have some growing up to do. I wish I wasn't backed into this corner, because I'd love to wait until we've all figured ourselves out." Lucas answered honestly. "But as of right now, yes. I'm going with my final decision through and through."

And thus, a feeling of relief and happiness lingered in the air for the night, all until the five friends went to bed.


End file.
